SUNDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 11, Eastern Illinois 8
@Lindenwood 3, Little Rock 0
@Morehead State 17, Southern Indiana 13
SIUE 9, @Southeast Missouri 2
Western Illinois 4, @Tennessee Tech 3
UT MARTIN 11, EASTERN ILLINOIS 8
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team rallied for five runs in the eighth to comeback and defeat Eastern Illinois 11-8 in the final game of the weekend series at Skyhawk Field.
TJ Dunsford drove in a team-best four RBIs and led the team in hits with three and smacked a double. TJ Grines (four stolen bases, three runs scored), Colten Payton (three walks, two runs scored, stolen base), Andrew Davis (double, two RBIs) and Garner Anderson (double, two runs scored) were on-base multiple times in the victory.
Maxwell Schumacher started the game for the Skyhawks (21-22, 7-11 Ohio Valley Conference) and pitched six innings and fanned five batters. Will Turner (3-1) closed out the final three innings for UT Martin to secure the win.
Schumacher started the game off on the right foot with a scoreless first inning that led to back-to-back RBI singles from Dunsford and Davis for the Skyhawks to claim a 2-0 lead. The righty Schumacher tossed another zero up on the board in the second with no hits allowed.
Eastern Illinois (24-15, 12-6 OVC) took hold of the advantage in the third and carried the lead into the fourth. UT Martin threw a counterpunch on a squeeze bunt by Amari Conley that scored a run and then Anderson and Grines scored on an error for the Skyhawks to take the lead, 5-4. The Panthers tied things up in the sixth, but the Skyhawks fired back again this time on a Dunsford RBI double to the gap in right center field to make it 6-5 in favor of the home team.
The back-and-forth battle continued when Eastern Illinois retook the lead in the eighth and held a 7-6 edge going into the home half of the inning. UT Martin began its rally when Cameron Greene scored from a wild pitch to tie the game up at seven. Andrew Lawrence pushed a fly ball to right field and Anderson tagged up from third to score and give the Skyhawks an 8-7 lead. Dunsford added on more when he delivered a two-run single with two outs that made it 10-7, UT Martin. Davis helped tack on one more from an RBI double and it was 11-7 Skyhawks going to the ninth.
Turner worked around two runners on base to get the final out of the game with a groundout to short and give the Skyhawks the win.
LINDENWOOD 3, LITTLE ROCK 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood baseball team (24-19, 10-8 OVC) secured a massive series win with a 3-0 shutout victory over Little Rock (26-19, 12-6 OVC) on Sunday afternoon. The Lions have now won four consecutive OVC series with a 10-2 conference record since the calendar turned to April.
Lucas Niemeyer and Easton Rakers were nearly untouchable on the mound for LU, combining for the Lions' first shutout of OVC play. Niemeyer picked up his second win of the season after surrendering just five hits through the game's first 5.2 innings, while Rakers allowed just one hit with a strikeout through the final 3.1 innings to record his team-leading fifth save of the year.
Spencer Pederson led the way for a Lindenwood offense that totaled seven hits on the afternoon. In his first appearance since late March, Pederson went 2-3 with a triple, an RBI, and one run scored.
After a Jake Radosevich base hit and fielding error put two on with one out in the bottom of the first, William Zareh smoked one to the gap in left field to drive in the game's first run. However, the Lions were unable to add any more runs after Zareh was doubled up trying to get back to second after a line out to third base.
The next major scoring threat of the game came in the top of the sixth when Little Rock loaded the bases with two outs. However, Easton Rakers was called into duty out of the bullpen and ended the frame with a three-pitch swinging strikeout to keep the one run lead intact.
With the Lions still clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh, Kam Edwards drew a one out walk before moving into scoring position on a wild pitch. Spencer Pederson then crushed a ball to the gap in right center for an RBI triple before also coming home to score on the play after the Little Rock center fielder air mailed a throw into the Trojans' dugout on the relay.
Now with a three-run cushion, Rakers worked through the final two innings while allowing just one hit – a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth – to secure the statement win for Lindenwood.
MOREHEAD STATE 17, SOUTHERN INDIANA 13
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State baseball team piled up the runs early and held on for a wild 17-13 victory Sunday at Allen Field at Prefontaine Park to complete the series sweep over Southern Indiana.
Morehead State (22-21, 8-10 OVC) sprinted out of the gate, posting eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. Davis Germann led off with a triple to left field, and after a Griffin Olson walk, scored on a wild pitch by USI starter Jake Porter (1-1) who took the loss. Third baseman Aubrey Kearns walked, and right fielder Ian McCubbin singled to left to load the bases.
MSU catcher Caden Sheridan cleared the bases with a three-RBI double off the screen in center field. Sheridan advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored MSU's fifth run of the inning on Eagle first baseman Alex Kean's grounder to short for the second out of the inning. Designated hitter JJ Dutton walked, and center field Kyle Krupp singled up the middle to put runners on the corners and chase Porter out of the game.
With Germann up for the second time in the inning, USI reliever Ian Anderson threw a wild pitch to allow Dutton to score and Krupp to advance to second. After Germann walked, Olson singled up the middle to plate Krupp and advance Germann to third. Kearns was hit by a pitch to load the bases. McCubbin delivered his second single of the inning to plate Germann for the eighth run of the inning.
Southern Indiana (23-21, 6-12 OVC) responded with two runs in the top of the second. Catcher Micajah Wall led off the inning with a home run over the screen in center field. After a hit batter, a wild pitch and a fielding error, USI scored an unearned run to trip MSU's lead to 8-2.
The Eagles responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second on a two-out, two-run single by Olson to extend the lead to 10-2.
Southern Indiana came back with three runs in the third. USI scratched out the first run with a single, a wild pitch and a couple of ground outs. After another single, Wall lifted a two-run homer over the screen in right center, and the Eagles lead was 10-5.
After both teams went down in order in the fourth, USI erupted for four runs in the fifth to trim the MSU lead to 10-9.
The Eagles got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning. McCubbin led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sheridan and scored on a grounder to short by Nick Griffith.
After USI plated a run in the top of the sixth to trim the MSU lead to 11-10, Morehead State again responded. Germann and Olson led off with singles and Sheridan delivered a two-out single to right to score Germann. After Griffith walked to load the bases, USI pitcher Abdriel Figuroa balked to allow Olson to score and extend the lead to 13-10.
Morehead State erupted for four runs in the eighth. Olson led off with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. Kearns and McCubbin walked to load the bases. Sheridan lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Olson.
Griffith walked to load the bases and Kean was hit by a pitch to plate another run. Krupp delivered a two-run single to extend the lead to 17-10.
Southern Indiana plated three runs in the top of the ninth for the final margin.
Devin Costa (4-1) picked up the win out of the bullpen for Morehead State. He got all three outs in the fifth inning. Alex Miller (2) picked up the save. He threw the final four innings, allowing seven hits, four runs (three earned) with one walk and five strikeouts.
SIUE 9, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - SIUE baseball moved back into a tie atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings thanks to a 9-2 win Sunday at Southeast Missouri.
The Cougars improved to 12-6 in the OVC and 23-21 overall. Southeast Missouri also is 12-6 in the league. The Redhawks are 31-13 overall.
Little Rock and Eastern Illinois also are both 12-6 in league play for a four-way tie at the top.
The Cougars trailed 1-0 going to the fourth inning when an Ethan Willoughby single got SIUE on the board. Mack Mitchell walked to load the bases. Brenden Fry then lined a bases-clearing double to left center to put the Cougars up 4-1.
Daniel Gierer led off the fifth inning with his fourth home run of the year to push the Cougars' lead to 5-1.
SEMO starter Andrew Carroll (6-3) allowed five runs on four hits over 4.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four.
SEMO threatened in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with one out against SIUE starter Jase Phillips. Joseph Martin relieved Phillips and retired the next two hitters with a strike out and a pop out, leaving the bases loaded.
Phillips allowed a single run on four hits over 4.1 innings.
Chase Bloomer singled in a run and Ryan Niedzwiedz doubled in another in the seventh to extend SIUE's lead to 7-1. Joshua Heyder singled to left to drive home Bloomer and when the ball was misplayed in the outfield, Niedzwiedz also scored to make it 9-1.
SEMO's Demitri Shakotko hit a solo home run in the eighth inning for the 9-2 final.
Martin (3-0) finished up with 3.2 innings allowing a run on three hits he struck out a career-high six hitters. Brennen Grams struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning.
Gierer, Niedzwiedz and Fry all finished with two hits to lead the Cougars.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 4, TENNESSEE TECH 3
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Leathernecks take game 3 win 4-3, and claim the series.
The Leathernecks showed resilience throughout, grinding out four runs on nine hits and capitalizing late. Western Illinois had traffic on the bases in multiple innings and finally broke through when it mattered most, delivering timely hits in the ninth to complete the comeback.
Tennessee Tech took a narrow lead late, going up 3-2 in the eighth after a sacrifice bunt plated the go-ahead run. The Golden Eagles had built their offense on steady production, including a solo home run early and situational hitting to keep pressure on WIU.
Cordell Coburn, Krayton Morse, and Joe Connolly led the way offensively for the Leathernecks, each recording two hits. Kamryn Link delivered the biggest moment of the game with a ground-rule double in the ninth to tie things up, while a wild pitch moments later brought home the go-ahead run. Wandel Campana also added an RBI on a sacrifice fly earlier in the game.